How Ferrero Rocher became a Status Symbol for Immigrant Families

Since the age of four, I visited my mother’s side of my family in Armenia nearly every summer. My grandma at the time was the head gynecologist in Nagorno-Karabakh1 and every few days, she would bring home a box of Ferrero Rocher or Raffaello that was given to her by her patients as appreciation gifts. These became our special treats and I remember how excited my sister and I became when we saw those little golden wrappers or small white packages with the red stripe.

I wanted to share the article below because I think it sums up how important these little chocolates were to us, and to many foreign cultures around the world. Although I am American (born in Mountain View, CA!) my time in Armenia really exposed me to this culture in which Ferrero Rocher came to define social and economic aspirations, for many immigrants and people worldwide, in a way no other food could.

Notes

Nagorno-Karabakh (NKR) is often referred to as “Armenia” since it makes explaining the story of the region a lot simpler. Actually though, NKR is an independent state of Armenians and a landlocked region between Armenia and Azerbejian. Although unrecognized by many nations as its own independent state, NKR achieved independence after territorial wars with Azerbejian from the late 1980s to 1994. The ethnic, regional conflict still continues today.